Water treatment for RV fresh water?

[bighatnohorse]

What is the most effective, or at best, recommended method for treating the RV fresh water tank while in Mexico?

On edit: Not concerned about drinking water as that issue has already been answered in another post.
I'm just wanting to keep the bugs suppressed in the RV fresh water tank.

[Talleyho69]

We, too, have visited several bottling plants, and they all use RO systems.
We run a two canister filter system for our drinking water. They are under the kitchen sink and feed a little faucet mounted in the counter-the one that your counter tops are pre drilled for. First filter is a 5 micron, second is a coconut charcoal .5 micron. That makes the water taste good, and perfectly safe for drinking. If you doubt, do your homework! We use the water for anything potable water is needed for, and our three pets. A set of filters lasts us at least our 4 months in Mexico.
Easy to put together and install, inexpensive, effective.

[MikeJinCO]

I have been by several bottling plants/shops both large and small, they all used RO systems.

[briansue]

I have met a couple people who have UV homemade systems to purify water in Mexico. A more complex system provides a steady flow to the fresh water tank and then shuts off when the tank is full. An easy system can be built using sediment filters and carbon filters and one of the UV purifiers. Small RO systems can be built but require flushing. Good filters and a UV purifier should work. Here are a couple of related websites that provide info and parts. Many other websites provide the parts and filters. I found some suppliers have the UV systems but not replacement lamps which must be replaced each year. Also learned that UV will break down plastic so stainless steel would be preferred. If you have DIY talent you can build your own system for maybe $300.

http://www.waterfilteruniversity.com

http://www.h2osplashwaterfilters.com

[PawPaw_n_Gram]

Old-Biscuit wrote:
Where does that bottle water come from?

The same place as in the United States - the local water system.

But as noted above - people who make big money on bottled water take the local water system water and filter it, maybe use UV sanitization, and try to make sure they have a safe product.

After all it only takes one or two incidents to ruin their business.

Yes, the majority of bottled water sold in the US comes from local water supplies - not 'spring' water - which really isn't all that pure in most of this country.

The only really pure water available most places is distilled water.

[cross_country]

For a number of years I used bottled water for the main tank as we have a dedicated ice maker. When the novelty of that wore off, I learned of a system in Mexico that was installed under kitchen sinks there. A unit which includes an ultra violet light with 2 large filters. The cost of this was approx 300 CDN dollars.

I have used this system for over 8 years to fill the fresh water tank and have never had any problems associated with contaminated drinking water. The unit fits in a compartment easily. The water quality is such that we have become spoiled for taste and therefore use this system no matter where we are.

The hidden bonus when using these filters are clean plumbing with little to no build up of crud in filter screens and water valves.

[briansue]

Because of low water pressure in many areas we fill our tank daily and add an ounce or two of bleach depending on how much water we have used. If you are not using it for drinking water you do not need a whole lot of bleach. You can do a sort of shock treatment with more bleach on returning to the states and then run that mix out before adding new fresh water in the states.

[rocmoc]

crandle wrote:
rocmoc, I am too cheap to flush the toilet with purchased, purified water!

Agree, only an option. We follow the bleach & bottle water process.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[crandle]

rocmoc, I am too cheap to flush the toilet with purchased, purified water!

[Talleyho69]

Keeping your water tank clean/bug free? Why? We are in Mexico at least 4 months a year, and use our moho in the states some, too. We don't sweat what goes into the tank, because we only drink water from our beside the sink filtered water. Yes, we use our tank water, and/or what comes in from the hose for everything else including teeth, and in 23+ years have had no issues.

[moisheh]

old biscuit. Every major city in Mexico has multiple bottled water plants. The big ones are very high quality. The little ma and pa plants are questionable. Some of them do not properly sanitize the bottles. Some of the sellers simply fill empties with tap water and use a hair dryer to install the seal. I try to buy from the fellows with a big truck and a brand name. If possible we stop at an Oxxo.

Moisheh

[rocmoc]

Bleach in the on board tank for showers, dishes & general cleaning. Bottle water for drinking & cooking. Another option is to fill the on board with bottle water / or drive to local bottle water plant and fill on board tank.

rocmoc n AZ/Mexico

[Talleyho69]

A truck, or a guy on a 3 wheel bicycle. Vehicles delivering 5 gallon jugs of water are a major part of this country. They are everywhere, all the time. And yes, it's clean water.

[Old-Biscuit]

Where does that bottle water come from?

[Canadian_Rainbi]

crandle wrote:
Use bottled water for drinking. Mexicans use it, why wouldn't we? For the fresh water holding tank, we attach a cheap Walmart filter to the hose (replace at least every year) and add a quarter cup or so of bleach every time we fill. You should "just" be able to smell the bleach in the water. We do not drink this water or use it to make coffee or tea but we do brush our teeth with it.

We have been doing the same except for the "cheap Walmart filter" for years. We have a three stage filter, we can use 1,2,or all three using increasing filtration up to a 1 micron ceramic filter. Unfortunately when you add filtration, in many places in Mexico there isn't enough water pressure to push the water through. We have our "spare" water pump available to help overcome this. In one campground there was so much sandy sediment we wrapped the first stage with paper towels then uses a relatively course charcoal filter after that.

Where we are now we don't filter at all, just add a bit of bleach. Bottled water is delivered three times a week.

The dogs too get bottled water.